GANANOQUE – A tribunal has rejected complaints that Ted Lojko violated election laws in his successful campaign for mayor in the 2018 vote.

After only 25 minutes of deliberation on Monday, the three members of the Elections Compliance Audit Committee ruled that the allegations levied by former mayor Erika Demchuk against her successor were unfounded.

Demchuk claimed that Lojko violated the rules in three ways. She alleged Lojko accepted donations from businesses, which is prohibited, and that she suspected that Lojko under-reported his expenses and that he might have agreed to do favours for supporters in exchange for donations.

Lojko said he was disgusted by the allegations, which were based on “rumour and innuendo” and he refuted them one-by-one with documents, receipts and affidavits.

Demchuk said she filed the complaints because she only wanted to level the playing field in elections, noting that she didn’t run in the last election so she had no political axe to grind.

The rare hearing by the audit committee that pitted mayor versus mayor was attended by about 20 residents, who went to town hall on Monday to witness the political theatre.

The former mayor said it appeared that Lojko accepted donations from a local business in Gananoque and from a consulting business from Toronto.

The Toronto donations that Demchuk found questionable were from Syed Qayam Askari and Faiz Qayam Askari who own a Canada-India consulting business. The donations totalled $2,317 to pay for campaign signs.

Demchuk said she suspected that the money came from the company, not the individual donors. She pointed to a YouTube video this spring in which the newly elected mayor was in India promoting the company. Demchuk said the video raised her suspicions that Lojko was helping the company in return for the donations.

As well, Demchuk said, the money that Lokjo paid for election signs seemed to be a lot less than the actual price that other candidates pay. She said she suspected that Lokjo was under-reporting his spending on signs.

In Gananoque, Lojko rented his King Street campaign headquarters for $600 from Darren Towriess, owner of the building and the Olde English Pub. Towriess donated the $600 back to the Lojko campaign.

Demchuk argued the rent should have been a lot more. Conservative MP Michael Barrett, successful winner of the local federal byelection, rented the same storefront office the next month and paid $1,400 a month, plus utilities, she said.

Demchuk said Towriess wants permission from the town for an outdoor patio for his pub, and she suggested that the donation was made in hopes of a favourable decision from the town.

Lojko apologized to the tribunal for being somewhat heated in his response to Demchuk’s allegations, which he said “bordered on libel.”

He said he was a partner in the Indian consulting business and that was why he was in India promoting it. It had nothing to do with the donations or his position as mayor, he said.

The rental of the storefront from Towriess was only for a couple of weeks, hence the $600 rent, Lojko said. Towriess considered it a donation to Lojko’s campaign.

As for the cost of the signs, Lojko provided his receipts to the audit committee.

Lojko also rebutted other complaints that were contained in Demchuk’s written submission to the audit committee.

Demchuk claimed that Lojko hired taxis to take supporters to the polls and didn’t claim the cab expenses. No taxis, responded Lojko, just two volunteers who drove five voters to the polls.

Demchuk said Lojko held a campaign event at the Purple House Cafe, but didn’t report the campaign expense.

Again, Lojko said, the allegation was wrong. The only event at the Purple House was an all-candidates meet-and-greet that he attended along with others running in the election.

The three members of the committee – Mel Campbell, Bill Pakeman and Glenn Mackey – heard 30 minutes of testimony from Demchuk and Lojko before adjourning to discuss the evidence in private. The entire hearing lasted less than 90 minutes.